


Drabbles from an Ugly World

by VoluntaryBubblehead



Category: Uglies Series - Scott Westerfeld
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-01-09 21:50:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12285066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VoluntaryBubblehead/pseuds/VoluntaryBubblehead
Summary: A bunch of ongoing short stories about my Uglies OCs. This is set before the Uglies series takes place, so while there may be slight mention of the canon characters eventually, the majority of the drabbles are going to be just my OCs. Some will be really short, others slightly longer.





	1. Pretties to Uglies

“They're so incredible!”

“Videos really are different from pictures.”

“Can you believe that'll be us in four years?”

“You know, Droop’s actually seen one in person before.”

The second I heard my nickname, my mind left the book in front of me, and I peered just above the edge to see five curious faces gazing back at me, each an obvious portrait of curiosity and scepticism. Silv’s pride lit up her expression, always eager to let the world know how special she was, even when using me as a method to that end. “I can do what now?”

“A new pretty.” One of boys encouraged.

“Hol.” Silv said at my silence. “Her sister.”'

I sighed, closing my book. “My sister and I are only ten years apart. So I saw her right after her operation. But I was really young, I don't remember much.”

The questions started almost instantly, and I felt a warmth in my body at the attention. I caught Silv’s eye and grinned before quickly rushing into this rare center of attention. I knew the look on her face well enough to know the thought running through her mind. Later, when everyone had left, she giggled as she poked my cheek. “How’s that whole ‘fitting in is the best’ thing now?”

“Okay, okay, maybe in this one moment, you’re right: being different can be fun.”


	2. The Other Side

“You know, I’ve been thinking, and I’ve decided that Pinch is the luckiest of us three.”

Silv and I glanced at each other with raised brows, the smirks and sarcasm fading on our lips as he finished his statement. “Oh?” Silv asked, “What about?”

"The operation.” Valentin didn’t turn his eyes away from his hands, lost deep inside his brain as he fidgeted with his interface ring.

Instantly Silv whirled towards the barely started morpho on the wall, the two identical sides still up on the screen as her and I debated on a preferred look. “How?”

“Not about your face, but on your position.”

To our silence he finally looked up, taking in what I could assume to be Silv and I’s identical perplexed expressions. “In our friend lineup. Droop’s first, you’re second, I’m third.”

Finally it sunk in, but Silv asked, “Wait, what’s wrong with being first?”

I answered before Valentin even had a chance. “I’m alone. All my friends are back home.”

“Your sister-”

“Whom I’ve never really met.”

Silv shook her head. “I don’t know. Who’s ever heard of a lonely pretty? It’s like a given that you leave the hospital and have friends.”

“Either way,” Valentin interjected. “Droop’s first into unknown territory, and I’m last, so here all by myself. Pinch, you’re never without a friend.”

She settled back, looking up at the wall and quickly choosing the left side, her typical morpho. “Unless Droop’s already made new friends.”

“That doesn’t mean I’d leave you behind.”

Valentin murmured. “I mean, we really don’t know what happens over there. Pretties never write back.”

A quiet stillness descended over us all, and it was clear we were all thinking similar things, about those who’d left to be pretty and were never heard from again. I had my sister, Valentin had an ex girlfriend, and Silv had her best hoverboard teammate. “It must be fun over there.” Silv said, returning her focus to her morpho.

I peered out the window to New Pretty Town. “Enough fun to forget old friends.” Shaking my head, I turned my ring quickly and music filled the uncomfortable air. “We’ll all be together when we get over there, I just know it.”

“Yeah,” Valentin, reached around us both and grabbed Silv and I’s shoulders in his large hands. “I think too much. My parents both knew each other as uglies.”

Silv smiled, and gestured up to the wall. “Seriously, shut up Fatty! Let’s see how large we can make my eyes.”


	3. The Natural

Blue dorm today seemed buzzing with some kind of news, uglies whispering to each other as they rushed quickly down the halls to the cafeteria. I usually kept myself away from most of the gossip, it was pointless to concern myself with trivial stuff since after the operation, nothing from ugly days mattered. However, something in the way the kids muttered about it, shock and awe on their faces, made me listen to a few uglies as they passed by.

“You’re kidding! There’s no way!”

“But that’s what everyone’s saying! Besides, she’s so shy, even keeps quiet in class. And have you really seen her anywhere else? Stays by herself.”

“What’s her nickname again? Pale?”

“I think it was Pasty. What else would it be after spending so much time inside?”

“Wow, now I want to look at her face. If the rumors are true, it’d be obvious, don’t you think?”

“I’d assume so, even at just 14.”

A minder came around just then to shoo everyone down to breakfast, though the conversation here seemed to be no different. Everyone was gasping about this girl, though just from slight eavesdropping I couldn’t figure out what all the fuss was actually about. I got to my usual seat to see the two girls from my history class already deep in conversation. “What’s going on?”

They looked up at me with shock. “You haven't heard?”

“Heard what? What’s happening?”

“Typical Droop, so far inside her own head she doesn't even hear the biggest news of the century.”

“Ugly gossip is pointless, Frizz.”

Helen smiled. “Ah, but this isn’t just ugly gossip.”

“What?”

She nodded. “Grease hacked the city interface and found out the whole councils talking about it.”

“What! Then tell me, what’s going on!”

“Well, the rumor is that after going in for her first pre-pretty measurement, it’s been agreed that one of the our Blue’s is a natural pretty!”

“A natural… No way!”

Senny nodded quickly. “It started this morning. Another hacker found out and it spread faster than any gossip ever. None of the minders or teachers have confirmed anything yet, and this girl, Yette aka Pasty, hasn’t been seen all morning. She’s probably hiding in her room.”

“Wow...a natural pretty. In our lifetime… I can’t believe it.”

I let them gab to themselves, fork moving absentmindedly around my plate. I wondered if anyone suspected before today about this girl, though after what I’d heard it seemed she was quite the recluse anyway. It was always curious to me about the exact point an ugly’s features set in, the starting stage from adorable littlie to awkward ugly, and how this girl had grown. Just like everyone else, I wanted to see her face, see what had branded her by the doctors as a natural pretty. 

“Grease, when you hack the interface, can you bring up any pictures?”

She snorted sourly. “Tried that. After the initial hacking, the city locked down most of her personal info. All I can see now is what they’re talking about, and last time I checked it was all figures and graphs, just like what they always say the pretty committee talks about.”

After breakfast, I made a quick stop back at my room while everyone rushed out to the hoverboard track. Even with all the excitement, the first race was today and hoverboard season was a huge treat for the uglies. The west wing stairs were the closest to the track so I hurried down the hall, worried I’d miss the opening team. 

Just as I reached the third floor landing, the door opened, showing a very pale blonde girl I couldn’t remember seeing before. We locked eyes, startled at the others appearance, and with this morning fresh on my mind, it barely took me a second to realize who she must be. Her large eyes, angled features, and gorgeous lips were all nearly, if not exact, to pretty standards. If it wasn’t for her sallow skin and dull hair, I could’ve sworn a new pretty stood before me. Even her eyes were an almost surgical shade of blue. 

“Sorry!” She said quickly, pulling the door back and disappearing down the hall.

Motionless, I watched the space she’d occupied, surprised at the feeling that’d started in my chest. I believed the rumors, she was indeed a natural pretty. Her beauty had affected me the same way as the middle pretty teachers and minders. Shaking myself from my stupor, I ran down the stairs, breathless when I finally found Valentin in the stands. 

“About time! You almost… What happened?”

“I saw her!” I shouted over the crowd as the first team rose on their boards. “The natural pretty!”

His eyes widened. “How did she look?”

“She was utterly beautiful.”


	4. Ugly Thoughts

I resisted the urge to scream as I stormed back to my room, careful not to slam the door and instead flinging my bag to the ground. “Welcome back, Oney.” The room chimed out to me.

“Quiet!” I seethed, throwing myself onto my bed.

I was so tired of everything. This stupid dorm room, and my classes, and my ugly face. My ugly mind. They told me it was just how being ugly was. The constant mood swings, the random bouts of intense sadness and rage, all perfectly normal for uglies. Though I was reassured by the middle pretties, I hated how my own brain seemed to fight against me, turning a normal day into torment. All it took today was a snippy remark from some pig-nosed tiny ugly to have me seeing red. 

“I’m so tired…” I turned my eyes to the window, gazing at the lights of New Pretty Town against the dimming sky. Raising my voice, I asked, “What’s today's date?”

“October 11th.”

Groaning, my head slammed against the mattress over and over. Six more months of this torture. Sometimes six months felt like nothing, but right now, it seemed an eternity. My gaze trailed to where I’d hung my favorite morpho right next to the window. Silv said it was so traditional, but while experimenting with the software was fun, I’d like to get used to what I’d truly look like. No more bulky eyebrows. No more droopy eyes. Hair as golden as the sun, and eyes as green as spring. And a mind that was perfectly happy. Pretties were never upset, they never had any reason to be. If being ugly was causing my mood swings, than being pretty was clearly the cure. 

That was thing I envied the most about growing up. How different pretties were from uglies mentally. They always seemed to know exactly what to do, no matter the situation, and they told us that all the arguing and ugly emotions we felt just drained away with adulthood. I desperately needed that.

Sometimes I got sad for no reason, not wanting to speak to anyone, barely being able to get out of bed when there weren’t classes. Sometimes I didn’t want to exist anymore. Not that I wanted to die or anything, just that I wanted everything to stop. Pretties don’t feel like that, their lives were too exciting and wonderful. I stared hard at the morpho, straining to imagine walking around like that, with that big pretty smile. I wanted to be beautiful, but if I was honest with myself, it was the pretty happiness that I desired more than the beauty. 

My ring pinged, a message from Silv about hoverboarding lessons. A smile graced my lips. At least until then, I had her and Valentin to keep me going. I grabbed my coat, taking one last long look out the window. This time next year, we’ll all be pretty and life will be perfect forever.


End file.
